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Women's Refugee Commission champions efforts of the young people of Sierra Leone to establish National Youth Commission

(New York, NY)  -- Creation of opportunities is crucial to avoid return to conflict. The Women's Refugee Commission supports a coalition of Sierra Leonean youth groups in its call for a National Youth Commission that will offer opportunities for the young people of Sierra Leone to help rebuild their conflict-affected country, seven years after its devastating civil war.

"Sierra Leone is at a critical juncture," said Jenny Perlman Robinson, Senior Program Officer of the Women's Refugee Commission's Children and Youth Program. "An estimated 44 percent of countries coming out of war return to conflict within the first five years. The civil war in Sierra Leone was fueled, in large part, by marginalized youth who saw few opportunities to participate in political and economic life."

"Our young people have a role in the country's sustainable development, for they are the present that will secure the future," said Ishmeal Alfred Charles, Program Assistant of the Centre for Coordination of Youth Activities in Sierra Leone and a Women's Refugee Commission Youth Advisor. "If given the opportunities, they can develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes that will enable them to take an active role in the development of our country. They are part of the solution to ensure the hard-earned peace."

The coalition, a network of agencies and organizations working for greater opportunities for young people in Sierra Leone, recently called on the ruling government to fulfill its promise to establish a National Youth Commission and "revise its confrontational position and commit to genuine dialogue with [youth] representatives."

In 2006, the United Nations Peace Building Commission (PBC) selected Sierra Leone as a recipient country of the Peace Building Fund. The government of Sierra Leone and the PBC identified youth employment and empowerment as a priority issue for peace consolidation. However, according to the coalition, the government has downgraded youth on the priority list despite the fact that many challenges remain—an estimated 70 percent of young people are unemployed.

In February 2008, the Women's Refugee Commission undertook a mission to Sierra Leone to look at young people's needs after the conflict ended—and specifically, what educational and job training programs are available that appear to be working, what gaps in programming for youth remain and what more is needed to prepare young people to participate in the rebuilding of their country. The resulting report, "Country at a Crossroads" found that young people in Sierra Leone continue to be marginalized, as urgently stated by the coalition of Sierra Leonean youth groups and youth-serving agencies.

According to Perlman Robinson, "The country's large youth population was greatly affected by the conflict and they are fully justified in their desire to be active participants in the rebuilding of their country. The government must look to its young citizens as a critical asset in addressing these needs and concerns."

The Women's Refugee Commission recommends a greater investment in and attention to the young people of Sierra Leone, in the particular areas:

• Quality education, which requires that teachers get paid a living wage;
• Opportunities to get back into the formal school system through catch-up classes to make up for years lost because of the war;
• Investments in keeping young people in school, including income generation for families to make up for lost income when their children go to school; and
• Skills trainings that are directly linked to market demand for young people for whom formal school is not an option.

In Sierra Leone, youth aged 15 to 35 represent 52 percent of the population. Many are currently the breadwinners of their families and will face increasing responsibilities to contribute to their families and communities. It is imperative for the overall sustainable development of the country—and for peace and stability in the region—to increase educational and employment opportunities for these young people.

As a critical initial step, the Women's Refugee Commission supports the coalition's call to President Koroma to "appoint members to the [National Youth Commission] with reasonable speed and to cause government to move the implementation of measures that will help youths move out of their current deplorable state of poverty and marginality.

*Formerly the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children